Midnight Pariah
by Hawkflight7
Summary: "It's time to wake up and face reality."


**Midnight Pariah**

 **Summary: "It's time to wake up and face reality."**

 **Firstly, SPOILERS within for Chapter 7 of Volume 4. So go watch it first if you haven't already. Or... wait, patiently, and then come back.**

 **Secondly, I'll be holding off on Diamond Eclipse until I get some more feedback on recent chapters (favoriting/following,kudos-ing doesn't really tell me much on what you think or what part(s) of the chapter you enjoyed the most. And while I have most of DE planned when recent episodes of RWBY don't change plans for the sequel [yes, I'm making a sequel once DE is done to continue into the V4 timeline]; reviews/comments can and** _ **do**_ **effect the story. I have literally placed answers to questions I've gotten into stories before, among other things. So don't be afraid to tell me what you think). And my muse hasn't been co-operating with the chapter I'm working on, so... you know, writer issues. Haha...ha.**

 **So in the** **mean** **time I will be working on other fics.**

When she fell onto her bed the tears began to fall instantly, but it took her a few seconds to realize it. After holding in everything that had happened in just a few minutes it was quickly spilling over, especially with the door closed once again, after trailing back into her room after facing her brother...

This was all planned. Well, maybe not _all_ of it, but it was expected to happen. Her brother had just been waiting for her to slip up so he could take her place. Her father ready to slide it over beneath the table.

Her title. Her _life_. All the goals she had been working towards, to hold onto the last shreds of her family's honor. It felt like it had just been ripped to pieces to small for her to stitch back together. What would her grandfather think if he knew what his son-in-law had done to the very company he had built up from nothing? A company he made for the good of Atlas, for the world. To see it corrupted and just drinking people dry of their money, putting its own workers in danger every time they entered the Schnee Mines. And now she couldn't fix it...

Every one would believe her father after he told them how damaged she had become because of what she experienced at Beacon. Of course they would, after she had unintentionally attacked an unarmed woman. They would want to know why she had done it, and Beacon was the excuse her father would use, rather than agreeing with his daughter that the people should be more concerned with what happened there.

After all, the woman who had spoken had implied that Haven was next on their hit list and it was only a matter of time until Atlas' own Hunter and Huntress Academy fell prey to their plot. Especially if they continued down this road and didn't _try_ and help the other Academies from falling. Because once they were gone there would be no more traditional training to fight monsters. The determined ones could find a tutor, maybe. But the fighting force of the world would be largely cut off from new recruits. How could he ignore that? As a Schnee? As-

There was a click of metal on stone and Weiss raised her head a few inches off from the bed so she could peer forward, at her balcony where the noise had come from. A figure was silhouetted against the moon, black and grey.

 _Mercury._

Weiss raised her hands up quickly to rub at her eyes: trying to get the tinge of red out of them, remove the tear smudges around them that hadn't seeped into her blanket. She stood up a moment later, trying to keep her hands from shaking, to keep her legs steady as she walked around the bed. But her legs shook, her knees threatened to stop supporting her and she placed her hand on the glass to steady herself once in front of the door. For a moment her fingers fumbled against the handle, then they clasped around the lock and with a twist of her wrist the door swung open from her weight being pressed against it.

Another _click_ sounded in her ears as he stepped closer before she felt a pair of arms wrap around her, stopping her descent to the cold hard stone. He changed her trajectory so that she collided with his chest instead, and Weiss breathed in deeply, the air becoming clogged in her throat, choking her until she split the silence with a sob. It didn't take long after - a second - for her to start crying again.

She could feel his hand move up the back of her neck, his fingers weaving through her hair as he kept her face pressed to the fabric of his shirt that was quickly becoming damp. "What happened?" Mercury asked softly.

He had seen the scene she made at the concert, he must know her father would give her some form of punishment for losing control of her semblance. Of course, she hadn't imagined _this_ would happen. Weiss sniffed, drawing in a breath slowly before she told him. Everything. She didn't leave a detail spared as she recounted what her father had done. How he hit her, something he had never done before. Yes, she got the scar along her eye from him, but he hadn't given it to her directly. Before now he had only raised his voice at her, not his hand.

Mercury didn't say anything as she spoke, telling him about Whitley as well, how he had been treating her since she came here and only figuring out now why he had been playing nice with her. Actually acting like a brother for once, before resorting to the demon-spawn he was. He chuckled briefly when she said this about her brother, but when she went back to her father... he grew silent once more. His body seemed tense against hers, and when she fell silent - except for the excessive sniffling and sobs that escaped her - Mercury didn't say a word.

He just slid his hand that lay on her back down further, bending slightly to hook his arm beneath her legs before standing back up, holding her against him. Her body bounced softly with each step he took towards the bed, but she barely noticed it as she trembled from each unsteady breath she took, trying to calm her breathing and quit crying for one second.

It was pathetic. She needed to get a hold of herself and do something about this. She _needed_ to. But... she only wanted to remain in Mercury's arms, for now.

When she felt another shift, his grip loosening, Weiss quickly reached forward to grab at his shirt, her hands forming fists as her legs attempted to hook around his waist. He was _not_ going to set her down. If there was anything she could prevent it was that.

There was a series of muttered words in her hair from Mercury before his fingers dug into her thighs and he lifted her back up so her body wasn't slowly slipping out of his grasp, due to his attempt at putting her down before. For a moment everything was still, and then there was a rush of air in her ears as he kicked off against the ground, spinning in the air to fall onto the bed. Her body seemed to float for a second before colliding with him again when he landed, and Mercury let out a grunt from the impact.

Well, it was his fault for never doing anything like a normal person. He was always showing off whenever he got the chance.

Weiss glanced up at him, pushing herself up just a bit as she laid on top of him. His fingers had started to comb through her hair again before she looked at him, then he stopped, his eyes trained on her left cheek. She went to glance away a second after, realizing he must have seen the impression her father's hand had left on her skin; his fingers lowered, tracing the outline of her jaw before turning her back to face him. His thumb ran over her cheek and she flinched even though no bruise was developing.

His eyes narrowed and before she could say anything he muttered under his breath, "Bastard."

Her gaze lowered and she tried to pull away from his hand. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt. I'm fine."

Mercury had raised his other hand while she was speaking to hold her face between his hands, most likely so she would stop pulling away while he scowled at the already fading mark. Weiss raised her eyes, jumping slightly to find he was looking back into hers rather than her cheek. "It's not okay. Don't pretend it is for anyone else's sake. You can put yourself first, do it. That's clearly all your father cares about-"

"I'm not my father," Weiss snapped. She didn't want to share anything with him, _ever_. And she didn't want to be like him. So selfish that he would crush everyone else beneath him to get what he wanted. "And I don't want to be."

His mouth twitched, she couldn't tell if it was because she interrupted him in another of his lectures or if he had found her words amusing for some reason. It was hard to tell with him.

"That's not something I would want either." Weiss bit her lip, immediately wanting to apologize for the way she had snapped at him. She knew he hadn't meant it that way, but before she could say anything he was speaking again, "But it would be okay if you were more demanding with someone other than me."

Her face heated up instantly, she swore his hands became a little more warm because of her cheeks burning so hotly. "I... you..." Mercury's soft laughter echoed in her head as she fumbled for words, something to throw back at him. "Stop it!"

He grinned, pulling her forward until their lips merely brushed against each other before he pulled away himself. Her fingers tightened their grip on his shirt, wanting nothing more than to drag his lips back to her own, but he evidently had other plans. Because while his lips didn't go back on hers, they did go to her cheek, then to the skin right below her eye - causing her to close it, - and up to her forehead. "You don't need to worry about becoming your father. Or your mother." He kept pressing kisses to her rapidly heating face, peppering them along the scar next to her other eye - she closed that one as well.

"You're not the sort to let other people walk all over you," A small lie, she let her father's opinion matter to her too much when she was younger. "To drink your troubles away and look the other way." ...that was her mother to a t. She couldn't remember the last time her mother had stood up to her father or questioned what he was doing; if she ever had. "You care too much." He gave her a proper kiss on the lips this time. "You trust too easily. And that's okay."

His fingers drew back into her hair once more, pressing against her scalp and massaging the surface. "You're not going to let this heiress thing get to you, are you?" It's not _a thing_ she wanted to say, it was my life. But she kept silent, yearning for more of those butterfly kisses. This was a rare thing, Mercury being so affectionate with her, and she didn't want to do - or say - anything that might make it stop. "Your sister didn't let it bother her. Obviously. She ran off to the army the first chance she got, and left you with the title." She could feel her eyes getting moist all over again. "Hm, left you with your father and brother, really. Your mother was only ever there physically." A tear slid down her cheek, disappearing with a brush of his lips. "I'm sorry. But it's okay. You're _okay_ , right?"

No. It's _not_ okay.

 **Lastly, Merry Christmas. I'll be throwing out a few more RWBY fics with different pairings I haven't written before for the next week or so as part of some sort-of Christmas Special.**


End file.
